OXYMORE - Pierre Henry Hommage

From January 21 to 23, 2022, Jean-Michel Jarre and VRROOM premiered Jean-Michel Jarre’s latest opus, “Oxymore”, an immersive concert that was played simultaneously at the first Hyper Weekend Festival at the Maison de la Radio in Paris in multichannel format and in virtual reality on the VRChat social VR platform, with the aim of bridging the gap between the real and virtual worlds.
With “Oxymore”, Jean-Michel Jarre and VRROOM have created an unprecedented immersive experience, blending music, technology and virtual reality. This collaboration is a tribute to the legacy of Pierre Henry, while exploring new frontiers in musical creation.

What is Oxyville ?

Oxyville is a virtual city designed by the Russian artist Pavel Pavlyukov in collaboration with Jean-Michel Jarre and produced by VRROOM. It is the setting for Oxymore's immersive experience. Inspired by iconic musical instruments from the early days of electronic music, Oxyville offers a unique environment for musical performances in virtual reality.

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The Tribute

"Oxymore" is a tribute to the pioneer of acousmatic art and key figure of the French school of musique concrète, Pierre Henry. Before his death, Pierre Henry had sent Jean-Michel Jarre a series of compositions in the hope of creating a joint work. The presence of Pierre Henry's shadow is felt in the immersive music of "Oxymore", inviting the audience to embark on an unexpected acoustic voyage.

The immersive virtual reality concert

Broadcasted live on VRChat, "Oxymore" was presented in multichannel format and in virtual reality, giving audiences a unique experience as they immersed themselves in the music and visuals of the concert. VRROOM was responsible for the production of the event, ensuring optimal sound and image quality for virtual spectators.

The artists

  • Jean-Michel Jarre

    Music and Creative Direction

    A pioneer of one of the most dynamic trends in today’s music industry, electronic music, composer Jean-Michel Jarre took the genre to new heights of popularity in the late 70s and 80s, selling 80 million albums worldwide to date.

  • Pavel Pavlyukov

    Art director and 3D artist

    Together with Dmitry Vorobiev (3D supervisor of the “OXYMORE” project), Pavel created the independent VR game “FRUSTRAIN”. The game’s visual style inspired Jean-Michel Jarre to collaborate with him on OXYVILLE, which led to the creation of OXYVILLE’s unique atmosphere with some references to the original Frustrain game.

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